The Fairy Grotto: star shards growing on your planet
2 October 2026 · 2 min read
Star shards are the most precious resource in Astrelyne: they raise your heroes' stars and let you recruit the legendary heroes. Until now, you had to earn them by fighting. With the Fairy Grotto, your planet now produces them on its own, even while you are not playing.
An alliance born in the Garden of Florasia
In galaxy 9, the Garden of Florasia, the Flower Queen holds the galaxy's fairies captive. Once she is defeated, the fairies agree to settle on your planet: they build an enchanted grotto where they weave starlight into shards.
In practice: beat the boss of galaxy 9, and the Fairy Grotto appears in your planet's list of buildings. You can only have one per planet.
What it produces
| Level | Shards per hour | Max stock (8 h) | Per day | Level cost |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 0.125 | 1 | 3 | 120 orbalite |
| 2 | 0.25 | 2 | 6 | 480 orbalite |
| 3 | 0.375 | 3 | 9 | 1,080 orbalite |
| 4 | 0.5 | 4 | 12 | 1,920 orbalite |
| 5 | 0.625 | 5 | 15 | 3,000 orbalite |
The "per day" column assumes you collect at least every 8 hours. Level 4 unlocks after galaxy 6 (already done by then) and level 5 after galaxy 10.
In total, it takes 6,600 orbalite to bring the grotto to level 5. That is a lot, but it is an investment that pays off every day, forever.
Why it is worth it
For comparison, here is what the other sources of shards give:
- an arena victory: 3 shards;
- the first boss defeated in each galaxy: 15 shards (only once);
- each summon: 1 shard.
A level 5 grotto brings in 15 shards a day, as much as a galaxy boss, without fighting. In a week, that is over 100 shards: enough to recruit a legendary hero such as Omega Titan or Kharzul, or to take several heroes to their next star (30, 50, 70 then 90 shards).
Collecting it well
- At least every 8 hours: like every building, the grotto stops producing when its stock is full.
- Nothing is lost by collecting early: if you collect before a shard is complete, the part already woven stays in the grotto for the next collection.
- Raids cannot touch it: raiders take gold, gems and orbalite, never star shards.
Where to start
Build it as soon as it is unlocked, then take it to level 3 fairly quickly: 1,680 orbalite in total for 9 shards a day. Keep levels 4 and 5 for when your Factory is running well. And if you are short of space, think about expanding your planet: it can have up to 9 plots.
All the building numbers are in the buildings guide.